Gandhi moves to defuse tension

Press, 2 April 1985, Page 11

Gandhi moves to defuse tension

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, has started talks with opposition leaders to win support for moves to resolve the simmering crisis in Punjab state, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. A committee of three senior Cabinet members appointed by Mr Gandhi will tour the north Indian state, where most Sikhs live later. For two years, militants in Punjab have demanded more autonomy and separatists wanting an independent Sikh nation have waged hit-and-run guerrilla war. The agency said Mr Gandhi launched talks to find a consensus on defusing tension in Punjab with leaders of opposition parties on Friday. It quoted him as saying that he was happy that political opponents were willing to co-operate with the Government in reaching an amicable settlement. Mr Gandhi, who took power when his mother In-

dira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards last October, said the authorities had already taken some steps to restore normality in Punjab and he was waiting for the reactions of Sikh leaders. He said Punjab had become a national problem and his ruling Congress (I) Party would launch a "mass contact” campaign in the state this week. The programme, to explain official policies to the public, would last two weeks until harvesting started in the rich farming state, known as India’s bread basket. Mr Gandhi has replaced R. L. Bhatiya, head of the Punjab unit of Congress, with a Sikh, Santokh Singh Randhawa, to boost the party’s appeal. Earlier this month he freed top leaders of the Sikh party, Akali Dal, and named Arjun Singh, an experienced Congress ' Party troubleshooter, as Punjab’s Governor.